Conservatives have warned of individuals taking advantage of welfare programs for decades, but the left has always tried to silence these critics by saying they have no compassion for the poor.

While it’s true that there are some people in need of assistance, food stamps and other welfare programs do more to hurt the poor than help them. Because they receive living assistance from tax payers, those in poverty lose the motivation to work and better their circumstances.

What was intended to be a temporary assistance program is now being used by people as a permanent way to avoid working for their livelihood.

Just as complicit are the store owners who commit food stamp fraud. These individuals wind up costing tax payers millions of dollars every year, but the last administration rarely punished them.

But now that appears to be changing.

From The Angry Patriot:

Mohammad Shafiq, 51, of Baltimore, stole a staggering $3.7 million from taxpayers in the form of food stamps fraud, according to the Baltimore Sun. He is just one part of a group of 14 retailers that took a total of $16 million by exchanging food stamps for cash in their stores.

It is disgusting to think of where this money could have gone, what it was used for, and who it had an impact on.

Shafiq was brought to trial and convicted of fraud.

He was sentenced to four years in prison, three years probationary release, and is being forced to pay back the $3.7 million in restitution.

11 of the others involved will also serve jail time, with 2 more cases pending. This Muslim fraud ring is hardly the first in America. A similar incident occurred in Maine earlier this year after a halal market was accused of accepting food stamps from ineligible customers.

But in that case, the store owner was not punished because the Dept. of Agriculture declared it would cause too much hardship for Muslim food stamp recipients. The market owners were instead ordered to pay a fine.

Maine Governor LePage completely disagreed with the lenient ruling, blaming Obama’s weak leadership. “The problem with the previous administration is they were very, very weak on fraud,” LePage said. “In fact, they were so weak, it was an incentive to get into fraud.”

Scammers across the country should be rethinking getting into fraud now that they know that they will be punished. Trump is no Obama, and breaking our laws will be met with force.